“It takes a lot of WalMarts to equal the contribution of that one mixed-use building,” Katz noted.

The 3/4-acre, 16- to 18-story, mixed-use development is actually worth more property tax revenue than the county's 21-acre Wal-Mart Supercenter and 32-acre Southgate Mall combined.

"Even a mid rise (up to about seven stories) mixed use building brings in $560,000, and the low rise (up to three stories with residential over retail) brings in over $70,000 per acre — more than three times the return of Southgate Mall," Mary Newsom of Citywire.net reports.

The real estate bust exposed outmoded assumptions propping up the suburban model. Downtown homes retained the most value, while the value of the onceillustrious far-flung suburbs tanked. Now, urban-style living is gaining momentum.

The story about the Katz analysis is quite interesting but the "Rockville" study is especially worth your time if you are looking for research into these areas. I've found that my land use students often appreciate the business side of this very interdisciplinary area of the law so these types of studies (and others like Chris Leinberger's) are generally quite useful.